What Are We Exporting?

(Something here from the archives, not yet #stacked. I offer it for you as a thought provocation. I’m traveling over the next few weeks but hope to keep pace with my weekly regimen. Be blessed!)

As Protestants, what are we exporting? I’ve surveyed this question on five continents, by the way.

So much of it seems to come back to buildings. 👎🏼 And shouldn’t we keep in mind, with all these construction projects, that the “great cathedrals” of Europe sit empty, as memorials and perhaps shrines? Shrines are memorials to the dead, not the living.

What are we building to or for, then?  Ourselves, or perhaps the institutions?

I can’t forget the impression I got while visiting Thailand some years back, and how it was an eery parallel to the Bible Belt I grew up in.  Shrines and monuments to the spiritual realm dotted the city centers as well as the backroads. Its reminder to me came as a stark and unwelcome surprise! How could it be similar or related when constructed from widely divergent worldviews? Can you hear the echos of Peter’s wisdom when calling out on the Mount of Transfiguration, “Hey let’s build some buildings!”

It also reminds me of a certain part of the story Escape from Christendom (by Robert Burnell; recommended by the way) where the man on the journey gets mislead into thinking he is on the path to his destination only to realize he is back in Christian City…. (Incidentally I think the entire essay is here at this link - www.fxmissions.com )

In the short term, however, building a “church” building (or campus 😉) is a compelling goal that unifies a group of people to sacrifice for something that is tangible and will outlive, in all likelihood, those who worked to bring it into being.  But this focus is often at the expense of the principal one.

I wonder where the Thais got the $$ for the Buddhist temples they’ve constructed so elaborately, some in some pretty obscure places?  No imperial power underwrote those projects, I don’t imagine.

And how is it that our exported (foreign) building projects make us feel like we are doing something in obedience to the Lord’s command to make disciples of all nations? It’s like trying to teach a language to children that they have never heard by starting with grammar first.  Quite nearly no one who does the course work ever learns to speak the language.

We produce and export what we are. How could we do anything other? If you are looking to observe a sad state of affairs, this one is for you.

Don’t we have enough discernment to realize this?